


But we were built to fall

by tyanite



Series: The Bobby John AU [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, POV Outsider, POV Second Person, Shapeshifter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-06 23:25:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3152192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tyanite/pseuds/tyanite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You never asked for this, but it's happened anyways.</p>
            </blockquote>





	But we were built to fall

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [the Bobby John AU ficlet compilation](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2165958) by [Fallynleaf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallynleaf/pseuds/Fallynleaf). 



> Another [Bobby John AU ficlet](http://archiveofourown.org/series/142125). 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

You haven’t been a Hunter for a long time, but you know a wolf in sheep’s skin when you see one.

You’ve gotten into another argument with Bobby Singer, both ends fueled by alcohol—whiskey for him, gin for you—and Bobby is as stubborn as he is drunk, so you throw your hands up and say, “That kids gonna turn, Singer, just you watch!” before slamming the phone down and finishing up the bottle so you’ll pass out and be dead to the world for a couple of hours longer.

 

You’re learning easily how hard it is to keep your head in this business. You know how much Sam and Dean and Bobby must want something to believe in, something to hope for in the future but you also know that this kid isn’t it.

They should listen to you—you know the most. The kid’s gonna turn, and the kid’s gonna turn bad. No matter how much you argue with Bobby, and then Dean and then Sam that it’ll just be easier to put him down now, before he gets any bigger, they don’t budge.

“We’re raising Bobby John,” Sam says, his voice patient.

“Oh god,” you whisper, your voice barely heard to your own ears, “you named it.” No wonder Bobby won’t budge, the monster’s got his name.

“We’re gonna make sure nothing bad happens, Jody. You can trust us.” Sam says. “Bobby John won’t turn, he’s a shapeshifter. That means he’s close enough to human, it’ll be alright.”

“And what happens if he does, Sam?” You ask.

Sam’s quite a minute. “Then we’ll fix it.” He says.

 _No you won’t_ , you think.

Because you know better. You know he won’t be able to do it when the time comes, any more than you would’ve been able to when Owen’s time had come.

You realize that when it happens, you’re gonna have to be the one going back into that house while Sam or Dean stand in the front yard, wrecked. You realize you’re going to have to be the one to put the kid down.

You start filling your house with silver, as much as you can get your hands on.

 

You hunt a shifter to prove you can. You hunt another one to test your resolve. You’re getting pretty good by the fourth shifter.

The fifth one gets ahold of your wallet, though, and when you finally track it down to the sewer where it’s been living, it wears the face of your dead son.

You shoot it four times, point blank, for that.

 

Bobby starts bringing it around town.

You had made nice with the Winchesters and Singer, just so you could stay close and watch, but you still don’t want anything to do with it. You don’t want to get close to it, just in case that makes things harder when the time comes.

It wears the face of somebody you don’t recognize, some dark haired boy with large blue eyes and a goofy smile. When it sees you watching it, it smiles and waves a little.

You don’t wave back.

 

There’s a third guy involved, some man who wears a trench coat and perpetual 5 o’clock shadow, who gives the local housewives a fright when he lurks around the playground. You don’t exactly think it’s worth worrying about, but you know these women and you know they won’t stop calling until the man’s moved on (and then they may call just to make sure nobodies kids have gone missing) or until someone goes to check it out.

So you go down there, because it’s sunny and you could use a break.

You see the guy immediately, because he’s standing under a tree and holding a small bouquet of daisies and dandelions. And yeah, okay, you could see some of the creeper vibes coming off of him, but it could also be nothing. You figure you can make idle chit chat with him for a bit, just to make sure, then reassure the over-anxious housewives who seem to believe any stranger makes their town Amber Alert USA.

That’s when it runs up to him, beaming. He holds out the flowers and you call out, “Bobby John.”

It turns and somehow its smile gets even brighter as it waves. “Jody!” It says as you walk up, sizing up the man as he sizes you up.

 “How’re you doing, Bobby John?” You ask. It’s a small town, everyone looks after each other’s kids, even the monsters.

“‘m good,” It says, chipper as always, “Dad’s working a job so I’m staying with Grandpa ‘till its done.”

“That so?” You say, then you look straight at the guy. “I don’t believe I’ve met your acquaintance yet, Mister…?”

“That’s Castiel.” It says, “He’s an Angel of the Lord.”

“I’m also called Cas,” He says, holding out a hand like he’s been told that’s what you are supposed to do when introducing yourself but isn’t entirely certain.

That’s about the time you notice the similarities. The fly-away dark hair and blue eyes, the square chin and the shape of the lips, and suddenly you understand whose skin it’s been wearing all this time.

“Sheriff Jody Mills.” You say, without taking his hand. Then you turn back to it. “You best get back to Bobby’s place, before the paranoid old cook starts tearing up the place. You take care of him, you hear?”

It giggles and it sounds so painfully like a child that your chest aches a little.

“Yes ma’am!” it says, and salutes a little. Then it tugs on Castiel’s sleeve. “Come on, Dad.”

He looked down and nodded and there was a sound like a flutter of wings and if you hadn’t seen them disappear right in front of your eyes, you never would have believed it.

 

You see the kid sitting on the front steps, hugging his knees and you know the sign of a crying child anywhere so for a moment you let your thoughts drift off of why you’ve driven all the way out to Singer Salvage and get out of your car.

“What’s up, kid?” You ask.

“Baby’s sick,” he says. “She quit out on the road an’ Dean couldn’t get her fixed up and then Sam made it worse and Dean started yellin’ and, and—“ He cuts off pushing his face into his knees.

You almost laugh because it is such a _kid_ thing to be upset over, and for a moment you’re not thinking much about what the kid is as you sit down on the steps besides him. “Oh come now, it’s not that bad.” You say, “It’s just a car.”

“No, it isn’t.” The kid cries, snapping his head up, eyes wide and open. “Baby’s not just a car.”

“‘Course not.” You try, gently. “What I mean is, she’s just a car, so she can be fixed right on up. It’ll be okay, kid. You shouldn’t worry so much about a car.”

He pushes his palms against his eyes and smears his face up worse but there don’t seem to be any more tears coming, so that's a good thing. You put a hand on his back and rub a little circle there till the kid stops looking like such a mess, and you almost reach out to rub the smeared dirt and dust off his face but you stop yourself.

“Where’s your grandpa?” You say, remembering why you’re here.

“He took the tow truck and went out to get Baby ’n’ Dean ’n’ Cas. Sam’s inside, though.”

“That’ll work.” You say and stand up. “You gonna be okay, kid?”

He nods and you nod right back. You make your way up the last few steps and put your hand out for the door.

“You gonna be okay, Jody?” He asks and you freeze right where you are. You turn slowly to look at him, and he’s staring right at you. There’s genuine concern, something so wide-eyed and innocent in his eyes that you know it couldn’t be anything but 100% sincere.

“Yeah,” you say. _No_ , you think. ‘Cause you’ve realized right then and there that you’ve been netted in, for all your caution and care. _It just isn’t fair_ , you think.

The kid nods but you think he doesn’t really believe you, cause he keeps watching even after you turn your back and get inside the house.

 

You see Bobby John being dragged by the leash by five excited puppies, each pulling and jumping and running in separate directions while the kid is helplessly pulled behind. You see Sam behind him laughing and smiling and petting the puppies with his large hands whenever any of them jump up his jeans or move close enough.

You see Dean and Cas trailing behind, Cas pressed close to Dean in a way that was almost intimate without touch and Dean was saying something that didn’t look very important but Cas’ expression spoke of the gravest issue.

They look like a family, and you don’t even need to squint to see it.

Dean catches your eye and raises his arm in greeting. You nod and turn away so they can’t see if you’ve been smiling, or if those were tears in your eyes.

 

A man stops in town, and you know he is a hunter. He keeps to himself and drinks his coffee black and stares down with mismatched eyes at the obits.

You’ve seen enough hunters coming through on their way to Bobby’s, so you don’t think much of it. You finish up your breakfast, pay and leave, tossing the hunter a smile on the way out. You hope he knows you know he does good work.

When you ask Bobby about it later, he says no hunter ever showed up, so you wonder if maybe you were wrong. Sometimes coincidences happen in inexplicable ways.


End file.
